I Won't Pay!

Comat felt like someone had punched his gut. "Just how the hell you broke them?! No, first of all, you broke all of them at once! Did you smash them with your magic Energy?"

"Of course not!" Linfel quickly shook his head. "I just drove my Magic Energy into all their channels at once. Part of the test was to see how much Magic Energy I could pass through them while using as many channels are possible, right? That's why I went all out. Weren't they supposed to be very resistant?"

Comat quickly went to the back and grabbed another rune. He carefully installed it on the plate that Linfel was using, connecting it to the sensors of the terminal on the side. "Alright, let me see it then! I'm sure you must have done it the wrong way."

Linfel scratched the back of his ethereal head and nodded. He sent his Magic Energy downwards and enveloped the rune with it. Through his Magic Sensitivity, the channels of the Rune became as clear as day to him. Well, the Runes being used here were expensive, but they weren't anything complicated to start with. They were there just for the test. 

'Compared to Primordial Energy Runes, these runes are a lot more intricate since Magic Energy is much gentler and easier to control. But it is exactly because Magic Energy is easier to control that the full picture of the channels of the Runes is also easy to see. If I had to use Primordial Energy in these Runes, it would have been impossible for me to see anything,' Linfel thought. 

Right after, he drove his Magic Energy into all the channels of that rune, making the terminal shine as a result. On the screen, there was a huge picture of th rune several hundreds of times bigger than the rune itself. It depicted the channels and their paths, as well as the Magic Energy flowing through them. There wasn't a single path that wasn't illuminated by the color of Magic Energy.

"This..." Comat didn't want to believe, but he had no other choice other than to do so.

Linfel then commented. "I'm only driving my Magic Energy inside. I'm going to increase the flow as much as I can. Watch."

The color of the channels depicted on the monitor immediately intensified in the next second. Yet, another second later...

*Crack... Poof!*

The Rune wasn't able to resist the enormous flow of Magic Energy and broke apart, turning into several specs of colored light infused with Linfel's Magic Energy. "See? I only did what you told me? I can't be blamed if you did a poor job with the Rune's resistance."

Comat's mouth twitched. Poor job? The rune was very simple, so there was no way you could do a poor job in a place like the Vaxwel Researching Famility. It's just that Linfel's Magic Energy Control and Sensitivity were absurd! 

Seeing Comat's expression, Linfel decided to turn around to leave. "Well, I'm not paying! I did nothing wrong! I'm out!" Since he destroyed the runes, there is no way he passed the test, right? There was no reason to wait there anymore. Above all, he truly didn't want to pay. Just how much would these things cost? He didn't know, and he had no intention of finding out now.

"Wait!" Comat quickly stopped Linfel. "You passed. There is no need to pay for anything."

"Eh?" Linfel was taken aback. "But I broke the runes."

"Forget that," Comat said as he pointed at the Terminal. There, Linfel's score was shown. The score you could get on this test was between 1 and 100. Linfel's result... was 83 points. That was far, far above what Comat could possibly expect. In fact, if Linfel had controlled his Magic Energy flow to not destroy the rune, he probably would have gotten over 90 points. Perhaps... 100? "Your score is more than enough. Besides, we truly said nothing about paying for the runes."

Comat couldn't possibly let Linfel go now. Sure, the runes would be expensive to pay, but Linfel's Control and Sensitivity were bound to help in their tests from now on. It is not that the Vaxwel Research Facility can't find others capable of doing the same as Linfel. It's just that such individuals have already graduated from the Academy and are all at least Level Four Maguses and Familiars.

Let's not forget that the academy gets its missions from other companies and organizations by charging a lot less than others do. That's how the students get so many missions available. Someone like Linfel... the Vaxwel Research Facility would need to pay a fortune to employ from other places. 500 Academy Credits was definitely a lot for the Students, but that was nothing compared to the real value of someone like Linfel. If Comat lets Linfel go, he might even lose his job.

"Is it true? I don't have to pay?" Linfel was ecstatic. "Great! Then I'm definitely signing for it."

Comat nodded. "Alright, just wait by the side. I still have the other Maguses and Familiars to test. We need five of you, after all."

Comat calmed down and returned to his position at the front. "Ahem... Well, as I was saying, it is impossible for you to break the runes... as long as you are not a freak like that guy. But, if, for some miracle, there is another freak here, don't worry about the rune value. Now, go ahead and use as many channels in the runes as possible while using as much Magic Energy as possible, too."

'He didn't need to call me a freak, right? That's disrespectful...' Linfel thought to himself. But then again, it is 500 Academy Credits for a single day of work. He better not cause trouble.

The others looked at Linfel on the side, feeling bitter. Linfel was only a Level One Familiar, but there is no way they can get his results. In the end, the highest score after Linfel came from a Level Two Familiar called Rantie. She managed to score 31 points, which was already a great result. Her master was nowhere to be seen, though.